A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



succeeded by Cecily de Columbers,' and then in turn 

 bv Richard,' Geoffrey, Adam, and Henry* her sons. 



Henry was still living in October, 1260, when 

 William son of Henry de Walton endeavoured to re- 

 <over the manor of Hale, which, as he asserted, Cecily 

 de Columbers had held of him, and which should 

 have reverted to him as an escheat on her death, as she 

 died without heirs, her children being ignored as ille- 

 -gitimate. Henry's defence was technical but success- 

 ful ; he did not hold the entire manor, as Herbert, 

 rector of Child wall, had a messuage there with 3 ^ acres 

 of land and the site of a chapel,* Henry retained the 

 manor till his death, which 

 occurred soon after, and was 

 succeeded by his sister Cecily, 

 wifeof Johnde Wolfklh* 



So far, the settlement made 

 hy Richard de Meath held 

 good ; the Walton family were 

 overlords, and Cecily de Co 

 lumbers and her children sue- 

 cessively held under them. 

 The threat of the Waltons to 

 dispossess them for illegitimacy 

 seems to have led to a com- 

 promise, for Cecily de Wolfall 



granted a third of the manor of Hale to her overlord 

 William de Walton, who was satisfied with that 

 concession.^ 



Other claims interfered. Robert de Ferrers, earl 



Walths of Walton 

 ON THE Hill. Az.ure^ 

 three sivans argent. 



of Derby, between 1263 and 1266, granted to 

 Nicholas de la Hose the wardshipof Richard de Walton, 

 and in addition, granted him the £j rent due from 

 the manor, and made him 

 mesne lord of Hale, holding 

 directly of the earl, and there- 

 fore superior to the Waltons, 

 under whom were the descen- 

 dants of Richard de Meath. 

 Nicholas de la Hose^ sold his 

 rights to Robert de Holand, 

 who thus became superior lord 

 of Hale, with the Walton heir 

 in wardship.' 



But at the beginning of 

 Edward Ps reign another 

 claimant came forward, more 

 important than any of the 



foregoing. This was Adam Austin or Adam de 

 Ireland, son of Cecily de Wolfall's sister Edusa,^ who 

 had been living in Ireland, where her son Adam was 

 born and brought up. They were in ignorance of 

 the state of the succession in Hale, but Adam on 

 coming into Lancashire claimed his mother's share of 

 the two-thirds not alienated by Cecily, and then 

 sought a writ against Richard de Walton for the other 

 third.*' 



He first appears as a claimant in 1279, when, in 

 conjunction with his aunt Cecily and her husband, he 

 demanded land, meadow, wood, and the third part of 



HOLAVD OF UpHOL- 



LAND. Azure, iemte de 

 /iSf a lion rampant guar- 

 dant argent. 



^ Cecily dc Columbers, Mady of Hale,* 

 in her liege power and with the consent 

 of Henry her son and her other heirs, 

 granted 14 acres ia Hale wood to Roger de 

 Wyswall, and a messuage in the vili of 

 Hale, for a rent of 31. ; Roger had also 

 permission to gather windfallen timber 

 in the wood of Hale for fencing and 

 building as well as for hrcwood j and 

 free mast-fall for his pigs in return 

 for one of the best of them, and 

 should he have ten pigs one out of every 

 ten, and \d. per head. She also granted 

 to Robert son of Robert de Carinion 

 3^ acres in her wood of Hair, abut- 

 ting on the road from Hale to Child- 

 wall, paying y\d, ; h? was to have all the 

 Avood on this land with windfallen timber 

 and pannage as in the preceding grant \ 

 Hale D. 



^ Richard son of RicharJ de Meath 

 granted to Reynold the Nfiller land 

 bounded by Fulshaw syke, the highway, 

 the ditch on BLickstonc Ice and the Lee, 

 ^nd the road from Hale to Ditton as far 

 as the bridge, for a rent of zid. ; Hale D. 

 He also granted to his uncle Hugh de 

 Thingwall \z acres at the head of Brad- 

 ley towards Hale — the perch to be of 

 24 feet — for 2J. annual rent j with the 

 usual easements in the wood of Hale, and 

 a fishery in the Mersey ; Norris D. 

 ((B.M.), 126. This grant seems to have 

 been divided between two daughters, for 

 Richard son of Elred gave to Thomas de 

 Sheviugton, ' the forester,' in marriage 

 with Cecily his daughter 6 acres and halt 

 a fishery for a rent of a shilling (to the 

 chief lord) and an arrow ; and John son 

 of Adam dc Wolfall granted the other 

 moieties to the same Thomas for \zd. 

 rent and a pair of white gloves (value id.), 

 ' which pence Richard de Meath and his 

 heirs have been accustomed to take in 

 the name of farm for the land.' The 

 iwo parts were thus reunited j ibid. 

 J 2 8-9. 



' Henry * lord of Hale ' gave to Richard 

 son of Philip de Spcke a messuage and 

 6 acres in Hale, with common of pas- 

 ture and other easements including wood 

 and reasonable mast-fall ; the service 

 to be i8rf. in silver \ Hale D. By an- 

 other charter he granted to Randle son 

 of Robert the Miller, formerly of 

 Garston, S^ acres in Hale in five 

 separate places \ the usual easements, 

 housebote. Sec, being granted for a rent 

 of Zi. i^d. Every tenth pig was to be 

 given to the lord at the time of mast, and 

 if he had less than ten he must give as 

 other tenants so situated ; should the 

 mast in the wood of Hale be insufficient, 

 he might withdraw his pigs. Norris D. 

 (Rydal Hall), F. 2. 



* Cur. Reg. 169, m. l\ d.; I7i,m. 32^^, 

 In the latter case Henry is called * son of 

 'T'xrycy dc Meath.' 



* As * Cecily dc Wolfall, lady of Hale ' 

 -he granted to Henry her nephew, son of 

 Richard late lord of Hale, 4^ acres of 

 land and a messuage, at a rent of zs. 3^.; 

 Hale D. The nephew Henry must have 

 been illegitimate. 



* Petition of Adam de Ireland in the 

 Hale Charter Roll. 



' Nicholas appears to have been in 

 possession in 1273 j De Banc. R. i, m. 10; 

 and see Def>. Keeper's Rzf. xlvi, App. 



8 viae, de quo Warr. (Rec. Com.), 

 387. For the king it was urged that 

 the grant to Nicholas was made * in a time 

 of war' ; i.e. the Barons' war. 



A curious statement as to the origin of 

 the Holand lordship was made by the 

 tenants of Hale, A certain Thurstan de 

 Holand, who had married a daughter of 

 Henry, came to him, they alleged, as he lay 

 at the point of death incapable, and took his 

 seal, which he had hanging from his neck, 

 and used it to certify charters granting the 

 manor of Hale to Thurstan himself and 

 Robert his son. After Henry's death the 



142 



Holands took possession and brought in 

 new tenants to the injury of the old ; 

 Hale Charter R. 



The story as to the grants made by 

 Henry de Hale, whileincapable, to Thurs- 

 tan de Holand is told also In De Banc. 



R. 336. m- f»7- 



It is certain that the claims of the Hol- 

 ands were earlier than the grant to 

 Hose, for Thurstan de Holand and Wil- 

 liam de Walton had a dispute as to land 

 in Hale in 1263, and William de Walton 

 being still alive, his grandson's wardship 

 could not have been prior to the Hobnd 

 claim ; Cur. Reg. 172, m. 27 </. Ralph 

 the son of Reynold shortly afterwards 

 made a complaint against Thurstan dc 

 Holand, Robert and Roger his brothers, 

 William and Adam his sons, and a num- 

 ber of others that with force and arms they 

 had come to his house at Hale, broken 

 the timbers thereof and carried away other 

 of his property to the value of 12 marks ; 

 ibid. 173, m. 22 d, z^d. ; 186, m. z^d. ; 

 211, m. yd. 



In 1276 Thurstan dc Holand had a 

 dispute with the lords of the neighbouring 

 vill of Speke as to boundaries, alleging 

 disseisin of his free tenement in Hale, to 

 wit, 100 acres of land. The jury, how- 

 ever, said that only 60 acres could be put 

 in view, of which only 20 were In Hale ; 

 Assize R. 405, m. i d. The true origin 

 of Thurstan dc Holand's rights may be 

 the fine arranged in 1262 between him 

 and John dc Wolfall and Cecily his wife 

 regarding 400 acres in Hale ; Final Cone. 

 (Rec. Soc. Lanes, and Ches.), 1, 138- 

 40. An earlier fine between John and 

 Cecily dc Wolfall and Alan le Norreys 

 shows that the former were then married 

 and had lands in Hale ; ibid, i, 78, Thus 

 Thurstan dc Holand acquired land by 

 purchase, and his son Robert acquired the 

 lordship of the manor. 



* Otherwise Editha or Ida. 



10 Hale Charter R. 



